My life in Rugby: Ben Skirving – former Bristol, Saracens, Bath and England lock

If I was asked to pick a standout moment in my rugby career I’d be hard pushed to name just one, the 13 years I’ve played professional rugby have been full of amazing experiences. Whether it be learning the ropes from the likes of Richard Hill – to playing alongside Danny Grewcock – to representing my country and making friends for life; there are too many to mention, and these are all things that will stay with me now that I am hanging up my boots.
I started playing rugby at my hometown club Bishop’s Stortford at the age of six. Saracens offered me a contract straight from school on what was called an apprenticeship back then, before I ever got chance to play for the first XV. That’s probably my only regret; I would have loved to have played for them. After acting as kit washer, water boy and expert bag holder I worked my way up and made my first team debut for Saracens at the tail-end of the 2002/03 season. I think I came on with about 10 minutes to go against London Irish and made one tackle and hit one ruck and that was it, I was hooked.
It was a great time to be involved with rugby. England had won the World Cup and there was a real buzz about. Two shoulder operations aside things were progressing well and I’d become a regular in the back row under Rod Kafer and then Eddie Jones. They were both different characters but very similar coaches in that they liked a big play book and a structured approach to the game. During this time I learned from some world-class players such as Thomas Castaignede, what he could do on a rugby pitch was incredible. He could turn a game on its head with one moment of magic.
My time at Saracens had a huge influence on the player I became and the seven years I spent there were fantastic. The time came to make the difficult decision to move out of my comfort zone and leave Saracens.  Steve Meehan signed me for Bath, his approach was very different, much more modern and expansive in his thinking and I had four great years playing for a brilliant club and living in a wonderful city. Whilst I was playing for Bath, Stuart Hooper was captain and he was the best captain I’ve ever played under.
My two years at Bristol had highs and lows. In the first year we’d invested so much to reach the top of the table, only to under-perform in the Championship final against London Welsh. This was obviously disappointing, but is the nature of the sport. In my second year I fractured my cheekbone playing against Northampton and then found my path back to the first team blocked by two very good local youngsters, Marco Mama and Mitch Eadie. Both have big futures in the game.
I was honoured to represent my country at every level from U16s through to Sevens and the senior national team. Winning the Under-21 Grand Slam in France‘s own backyard was pretty special. Then, in 2007, I achieved the ultimate dream: being capped by my country. It was on the tour to South Africa on the eve of the World Cup. We’d gone over with a squad missing several frontline players and came out second-best in both Tests against a very good Springboks side that would become world champions a few months later. I played in the second test at Loftus Versfeld and we were still in the game up until about the 50-55th minute before being overpowered. Throwing an intercept pas to Bryan Habana, the fastest player on the planet at the time, probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do! We were beaten 55-22, but to experience playing in front of 50,000 passionate English and South African fans is something I will always cherish.
While silverware eluded me during my time at Saracens, Bath and Bristol, I am proud of what I achieved in the game, the privileged experiences it afforded me and the friends I have made. It has been a great honour to have played the sport for 13 years and to have made well over 150 Premiership appearances. Now I’m looking forward to the next exciting chapter in my life, as Head of Rugby at Hymers College.
*As told to JON NEWCOMBE